Tell me! The International Brotherhood of Grapplers, Luchadors and Midgets (IBGLM)

Oct 24, 2007 12:01

Viktor_haag was wondering, after listening to Bret Hart yesterday, why wrestlers have never formed any kind of union.

I'm also wondering. I know a bunch of you have more knowledge about both the history of wrestling and unions, so does anyone have any insight/thoughts?

wrestling

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Comments 8

nihilistic_kid October 24 2007, 16:08:47 UTC
They get blackballed when they try. The biggest guys, who are the hardest to blackball, are well-fed enough not to put their asses on the line for the undercard, especially when they also get management (ie. booking) responsibilities and can thus take care of themselves.

The brass is very canny; wrestlers are often meatheads. They get played against one another, shifted around, blackballed, and are mostl y easily replaced. There won't be a union until either SAG makes a move to unionize them for being on TV or until there is enough locker room solidarity that the lights go up on a live TV show or PPV and nobody comes out of the prep area until demands are met.

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antikythera October 24 2007, 16:18:26 UTC
Oddly enough, the question this brought to mind is whether there are unions for adult film actors.

I can't google this while I'm at work. ;)

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thebitterguy October 24 2007, 16:21:41 UTC
Probably not, and probably for the same reasons as in pro wrestling.

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adamjury October 24 2007, 17:10:29 UTC
There isn't; but better safety standards are in place through self-regulation and adherence to local law [in the USA, mostly California.]

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thebitterguy October 24 2007, 19:55:36 UTC
I wonder what the list of adult film actors who died prematurely looks like compared to professional wrestlers.

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tfbretz October 24 2007, 16:19:00 UTC
It would probably end up the same way as when a few drivers in NASCAR tried to unionize back in the sixties. They were told if they moved ahead, they'd never drive in the series again and that was pretty much the end of it.

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thebitterguy October 24 2007, 19:58:10 UTC
I'd never heard that. It sounds like it, from what Nik said.

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